Agenda – Day 3

Robert Tennant is Director of Health Information Technology Policy for the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). In his role at the association, Mr. Tennant focuses on federal legislative and regulatory health information technology issues including MACRA, HIPAA, administrative simplification, EHR pol-icy, and other HIT topics. Mr. Tennant currently participates with numerous industry organizations including his position on the executive committee of the Board of Directors of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI); and co-chair of the WEDI Virtual Clipboard Initiative, Secure Messaging Workgroup, and ePayments Taskforce. In addition to his role as co-chair of the National HIPAA Summit, he also serves on the Board of Commissioners for the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare Index Advisory Panel, the United Healthcare Administrative Simplification Workgroup, the National Uniform Claim Committee; the Physicians EHR Coalition; and others.

Madhu Annadata is the Director of the Division of National Standards (DNS) in the Program Management & National Standards Group (PMNSG) in the Office of Information Technology (OIT) at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). As Director of DNS, Madhu directs the regulation and guidance materials for the Administrative Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), including transactions, code sets, and unique identifiers.

Madhu started his federal career with CMS in 2009 where he held several leadership positions most recently as the Director of the Division of National Standards.

Erin Richter Weber is Director of CAQH CORE, a national multi-stakeholder initiative that streamlines electronic healthcare administrative data exchange and improves health plan-provider interoperability through an integrated model of operating rule development, adoption, and maintenance. With more than 15 years experience in the healthcare industry, Erin has lead multiple phases of operating rule development and implementation at CAQH CORE. Prior to joining CAQH, Erin served as a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) where she managed engagements for government clients and as the lead revenue cycle researcher at the Advisory Board Company.

George Arges is the senior director of the Health Data Management Group of the American Hospital Association. He was involved in the early development of the electronic standards that became part of HIPAA. At the AHA he leads and coordinates the policy activities associated with administrative simplification. He also chairs the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC).

Margret Amatayakul is president of MargretA Consulting, LLC, an independent consulting firm specializing in information technology and informatics for improving the clinical and business process of health care. Margret “A” is also a clinical associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Applied Health Sciences and Adjunct Faculty at the College of St. Scholastica.

Steven Lazarus is President and Co-Founder of Boundary Information Group (BIG), a virtual health care information and technology consulting firm. The firm is recognized for its leadership in conducting “mock” audits for HIPAA Privacy, Security, Breach Notification, Transactions, Code Sets, Identifier and Operating Rules; and EHNAC Accreditation. His consulting engagements include electronic health records (EHR), health information exchange (HIE), system strategic planning, operating rules implementation and compliance, revenue cycle improvement and workflow improvement, and HIPAA compliance. His clients include physician practices, hospitals, HIEs, insurance companies, vendors, government (Federal, State and local) and national associations. In 2004, he co-founded Health IT Certification, LLC. He has been accepted by the Courts as an expert HIPAA witness. Dr. Lazarus is a Former Chair of WEDI.

Jay Eisenstock is a seasoned consultant, speaker, contract negotiator and management professional with more than 30 years of recognized experience in healthcare and technology. Jay combines a solid foundation of business expertise with a strong technology background, and is focused on achieving superior bottom-line results for his clients.

Jay has a demonstrated track record of managing strategic partnerships and delivering large-scale, mission-critical projects on time and within budget. Throughout his 16-year career at Aetna, Jay has leveraged a team-based management style and interpersonal communication skills to guide all levels of internal and external customers.

Currently, he is the Board Chair Elect for the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), a Commissioner for the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), and serves on several committees with the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH).

Heather McComas is Director of the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) Administrative Simplification Initiatives division. In her role at the AMA, Heather focuses on reducing practice administrative burdens and streamlining manual processes such as prior authorization so that physicians can focus on what matters most — patient care. She regularly participates in standards development organizations, including X12 and NCPDP, and is co-chair of WEDI’s Prior Authorization Subworkgroup. She has testified on behalf of the AMA before the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics on various administrative simplification issues. Heather is a pharmacist by training and received a PharmD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.